Assessment of macular choroidal thickness, central macular thickness and retinal nerve fiber layer in patients receiving oral isotretinoin treatment

Purpose:To investigate the impact of oral isotretinoin therapy in choroidal thickness, central macular thickness (CMT), and retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Patients and methods:Choroidal thicknesses, CMT, and RNFL thickness of 64 eyes were evaluated at baseline and the end of the third month of isotretinoin therapy by spectral-domain OCT. For assessment of choroidal thickness, OCT measurements were obtained at the fovea with 6 additional measurements at adjacent locations (at 500-1000-1500 mu m temporal to the fovea and 500-1000-1500 mu m nasal to the fovea). Results:There was not a statistically significant difference between the baseline and third-month follow-up measurements of choroidal thicknesses at seven distinct locations (p > 0.05). Similarly, RNFL thickness and CMT did not change with a mean dose of 30 (+/- 6) mg per day isotretinoin therapy during follow-up (101.82 vs 102.24,p = 0.079; 217.77 vs 217.25,p = 0.731, respectively). Conclusion:After the use of oral isotretinoin for 3 months, no significant side effects have been observed in choroidal thickness, CMT, and RNFL thickness by OCT.